So I have been away (still am actually) and have been following the game from a distance. Still have podcasts, forums, meta-wing, regional streams and YouTube batreps to keep me connected. I was really excited about playing with the Silencer and Kylo when I got back to playing. In fact even before release I dreamed up a list with him, Soontir, and Duchess all at 9s. But has his novelty worn off and he flopped? I know, I know, fly what you like and everything (almost) is good depending on the build and ability of the pilot.

But that aside, not a lot of Kylo's making a splash. It seems QD is the choice d'jour for boats companionship and Poe's advanced optical resurgence has me seriously considering my Imperial status. Does Kylo still need to be "figured out." There has been a bevy of regional results lately, maybe after those we will see, but alas I feel I may need to embrace the reality. Kylo is just a bit underwhelming.

Thoughts?

Look at the Regionals thread.

I think Kylo and 2 harpoon boats have one at least one regional.

Kylo and some gunboats have been winning in the regionals. He's a potent finisher backed with consistent frontloaded damage. What's not to love?

A decline in the Imperial Ace playstyle over the last few competitive seasons have seen some shy away from him in favour of QuickDraw, but he's definitely a viable ship.

I just did a quick search. I know stats are stats and they can be twisted to prove a point but here is what I found:

As of today (9 Jan). Kylo's pilot ranking from 9 Dec 17 to current is #10 (large tournaments = more Magic) (widespread use = more Magic) (all tournament types) (use all ranks)

When you switch to "use ranks after the cut he plummets to #40! Does this mean he is used a lot but not by the best? Too many people are teching against him? If you switch it to just regionals he goes back up, but only to 30 (With Quickdraw the top ranked pilot in regionals since 9 Dec after the cut.

I think (hope) its because the "best" way to build/pair him is yet to come. But, stats are stats.

Pretty much means 'used a lot but not the best'.

He's a little too expensive for his utility, a points fortress without the evade action or regen that costs the same as or more than most Poes is always going to be a difficult prospect.

Kylo did well in Australia, where one of the Foss boys won with it, but hasn't featured much at all anywhere else.

I think it's right that he's overhyped. Meanwhile I'm happy to see EI Miranda lock up two of the top spots in Arizona - people had kneejerked so hard after Advanced SLAM got nerfed, she's fine with EI.

24 minutes ago, Stay On The Leader said:

Kylo did well in Australia, where one of the Foss boys won with it, but hasn't featured much at all anywhere else.

I think it's right that he's overhyped. Meanwhile I'm happy to see EI Miranda lock up two of the top spots in Arizona - people had kneejerked so hard after Advanced SLAM got nerfed, she's fine with EI.

I'm not so sure, i think he may have the goods, but as is the issue with many imp lists there's very little room for error or bad green rolls.

8 minutes ago, Ralgon said:

I'm not so sure, i think he may have the goods, but as is the issue with many imp lists there's very little room for error or bad green rolls.

I think when he's up against the right thing he has the goods, but when he's up against the wrong thing he really really really struggles to stay alive.

He's a metagame weapon to bring out when you judge that the field is right for him.

he's a fat interceptor so the same things that counter an interceptor will counter him, though not as hard due to the tech/system combo and 6hp.

Soontir finds one of his counters, hes toast. Kylo comes across it he can survive but it'll be rough.

The problem is the Nym, trajectory, genius combo. It tears apart any ship below ps 10 with low hp, especially since they are loading protons, in combination with Sabine, ships just get blown to pieces and Miranda finishes them off with TLT

Edit: they are both (or at least Miranda) also loaded with harpoons for a pretty strong alpha

52 minutes ago, garciaj113 said:

The problem is the Nym, trajectory, genius combo. It tears apart any ship below ps 10 with low hp, especially since they are loading protons, in combination with Sabine, ships just get blown to pieces and Miranda finishes them off with TLT

Edit: they are both (or at least Miranda) also loaded with harpoons for a pretty strong alpha

basically, it tears apart almost any small ship, arc-ed ship...

5 hours ago, Stay On The Leader said:

Kylo did well in Australia, where one of the Foss boys won with it, but hasn't featured much at all anywhere else.

I think it's right that he's overhyped. Meanwhile I'm happy to see EI Miranda lock up two of the top spots in Arizona - people had kneejerked so hard after Advanced SLAM got nerfed, she's fine with EI.

Also was 2 out of the top 4 at Austin Regional I believe. It's not broken good, but it seems like a solid competitive ship. Although flying aces definitely is a bit harder than most ships.

Silencer costs way to much, locally no one has found any build they like for any silencer.

Hm, seems interesting. He is, at least to my mind, most alike to the high-PS Defenders, both in Points and Health, of course going a bit more traditional-ace-route.

My best guess is that he represents an archetype most competitive players know quite well to defend against (Soontir dancing around wasn't THAT long ago). Maybe time will bring him higher on the board, like QD is now, or he will plummet down to where the other Squirrel Aces would be if they were as pricey.

The Silencer costs wayy too much if you don't destroy something pretty quickly. QD is generally better. Kylo is fun and good for rewarding good piloting. But taken a lot, not the best.

I think he's still good right now, the trouble is always the pairings and how you handle PS10+. I've been running him with Soontir, Dark Curse, and a 4 point bid. It does the trick vs any other PS9, then you have to leverage your entire list to blocking and setting up shots for the other 2 ships to kill the PS10, or at least bait with Kylo, take a hit, hand them a PS0 crit, then land the crit on them. Its all kinds of difficult, but very rewarding when you win with palp-less aces.

As for the gunboat pairings, they're pretty mobile with slam to allow for lower PS blocking, and the gunboats take out anything lower anyway. Traditional ways of dealing with Aces don't work against Kylo because he won't be one shot by a sabine bomb.

I’d like to see a Soontir ability on a Silencer instead of Kylo... and a missile slot

1 hour ago, Lobokai said:

I’d like to see a Soontir ability on a Silencer instead of Kylo... and a missile slot

Old Man Fel with 181st title.

A friend of mine was flying Kylo (PTL/AdvS/AdvO) today at casual, and didn't quite make it. First, he got pretty well mauled by some bad dice luck from Unguided Rockets on a Nu, as well as a Gunner/Hotshot Copilot Oicunn.

Second game, chipped down by my PS 10 Wedge/Nym/Cracken. He took Airen Cracken off the board in a single Range 1 shot, and Wedge/Nym down to PS 0 to make it pretty close, but couldn't quite hold on.

However, he told us that these were the first two losses with the list he's had.

Back before the break, I flew against a different friend with a Kylo list, where I had standard 48 Corran and a pair of FAA Blue T-70s. Both Kylo and Corran ended at full HP, so I won on points.

//

Anyhow, I think overhyped is a good term to describe Kylo. Don't get me wrong, he can be strong, can move so **** well. But. His single Focus token and no Evade token mean that he can just get chipped down, and he's more susceptible to dice variance. I think Kylo's an above-average ship, but not necessarily the ZOMGWTFBBQ thing it seemed like some folks wanted to believe he'd be.